It is known to aerosolize a drug for delivery by inhalation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,861 to Clearman et al. for an Aerosol Delivery Article (“Clearman et al.”) discloses a device including a substrate carrying a flavor or a drug. The substrate is heated by burning a fuel element which can be an “extruded carbonaceous material”. Heating the substrate causes the flavor or drug to aerosolize which allows the user to inhale the flavor or drug. However, because the device disclosed in Clearman et al. burns a carbonaceous material to generate heat, heating and aerosol generation can be relatively slow. Additionally, the user must use a separate implement, such as a lighter or match, to ignite the fuel element. Also, the fuel element may generate undesirable products such as odor and smoke which may irritate the user or bystanders. These drawbacks to the Clearman et al. device can make the device relatively inconvenient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,868 to Katsuda at al. for a Thermal Fumigator for Drugs (“Katsuda et al.”) also discloses a device which can be used to vaporize a drug for inhalation delivery. As Clearman et al., Katsuda et al. also uses heat to vaporize the drug. However Katsuda et al. discloses ignition of a volatile fuel such as alcohol, petroleum or ether to generate the heat required to cause vaporization of a drug. The volatile fuel held by a container and is ignited by a metal catalyst included with the device. However, while combustion of the fuels disclosed in Katsuda is typically much more rapid than the combustion of the carbonaceous material fuel disclosed in Clearman et al., ignition of the fuels disclosed in Katsuda et al. can still be relatively slow. Additionally, the fuels disclosed in Katsuda et al. generate gaseous products upon combustion. Thus, if the fuel is contained in a sealed container, the pressure in the container may increase and cause a rupture. Additionally, even if a valve is provided for escape of the excess gas upon combustion, the escaping gas may generate an unpleasant odor.